IT MAY be the Year of the Tiger, but it is proving a far from auspicious year for the Siberian tigers of cash-starved Shenyang Zoo: 11 of these magnificent beasts have died of starvation or been shot this year, and now another three are seriously ill.
Siberian tigers are one of the world’s rarest species, with an estimated 300 left in the wild, 50 of them in China. As the government launches a probe into the deaths, the zoo’s management has been forced to come out with a statement denying that the beasts had been culled so their parts could be used in traditional medicine.
Media reports this week said that 11 tigers died after they were fed nothing but chicken bones at Shenyang Forest Wild Animal Zoo. Another two tigers were shot dead after they mauled a zoo worker in November 2009.
Now another three big cats are shedding fur, have lost their appetites and are listless, the Xinhua news agency reported.
Things have reached crisis point since the zoological park, which is mainly privately owned but with the Shenyang city government having a 15 per cent stake, ran out of money.
As well as the tigers, a total of 26 animals from 15 species have died at the zoo this year, including four stump-tailed macaques, a rhesus monkey, a springbok, a dalmatian, and a Mongolian horse.
In all, the number of animals in the zoo has dropped by half in a decade, Xinhua reported.
China’s State Forestry Administration has sent a work team to probe the massive animal death rate.
Rumours surfaced immediately that the animals had been killed for their bones, which are prized in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Every year there are widespread illegal sales of tiger bones, penises and other parts because many believe that tiger parts can increase potency or cure diseases.
China joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), a pact signed by almost 200 countries, in 1981, and imposed a ban on the harvesting of tiger bones in 1993.
“After each tiger died, we invited vets and experts from Shenyang Agricultural University to conduct an autopsy and report the results to the animal protection authorities. The tiger meat, skins and bones are kept in storage freezers,” said Wu Xi, manager of the zoo.
But a zoo worker told Xinhua that the tiger bones were used to make tiger-bone liquor, adding that “the liquor was used to serve important guests”. The local government has pledged 7 million yuan (€750,000) to help save the remaining animals.